


Three Bags of Candy and a Green Cape

by Im_A_Giraffe1979



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Halloween, M/M, kid Eren, wholesome fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-14 22:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20608295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_A_Giraffe1979/pseuds/Im_A_Giraffe1979
Summary: “Tch” Levi glared into his closet. He couldn’t believe he’d let that little brat talk him into this. Or more precisely, the brat’s mother. He grabbed the stupid green cape out of his closet and rubbed the cheap material between his fingers. She’d showed up at his door a week ago, begging him to watch Eren, her son, on Halloween night and take him out trick-or-treating.





	Three Bags of Candy and a Green Cape

**Author's Note:**

> Just some wholesome Halloween fluff

“Tch” Levi glared into his closet. He couldn’t believe he’d let that little brat talk him into this. Or more precisely, the brat’s mother. He grabbed the stupid green cape out of his closet and rubbed the cheap material between his fingers. She’d showed up at his door a week ago, begging him to watch Eren, her son, on Halloween night and take him out trick-or-treating. They’d planned on doing it but when Armin suddenly broke his arm on the playground and needed surgery they couldn’t, and of course the only open surgery time available had been Halloween night. So, Levi reluctantly agreed to watch the brat and was immediately handed a costume. It was from some show or something he’d gathered but he’d only agreed to wear the cape, no need to make everyone think he’d be trick-or-treating too. He sighed, swinging the thing around his shoulders and fastening it in front of his shirt collar. Eren would be dropped off soon and then he’d have to walk the damn kid all over the neighborhood in search of plastic-wrapped cavities. 

Levi was in the kitchen, shoving keys, phone, and wallet into his pockets when the doorbell rang. Eren’s mom looked just like him, except with longer hair, and Eren himself was wearing… something. 

“And what are you supposed to be?” Levi asked, politely leaving ‘the hell’ out of his sentence. He looked like some kind of anatomy doll for learning the muscles of the human body.

“I’m a titan!” Eren yelled, jumping and punching the air. 

“Mhmm.” Whatever that was.

“Thank you again so much, Levi, we really appreciate this, call if you need anything.” She said, shoving the kid towards him after a kiss on top of the head, and leaving.

“Behave Eren, do whatever Levi tells you okay.” She shouted over her shoulder as she hurried back to their house next door. Eren jumped up and down, grabbing Levi’s hand with his smaller gloved one and tried to take off running.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, I know the best house on the block to start with.” He reminded Levi a bit of a small over-excited puppy, hopefully, he’d be able to restrain himself from piddling on the floor. 

The house Eren was talking about was right across the street from Levi’s. It was nicer with a big porch and new blue paint. Eren ran up the stairs to the door and then stopped, spinning around to stare at Levi who was just coming through the front gate.

“Come on Levi, I can’t knock until you get here.” He said, his legs jittering impatiently.

“Why not, just do the thing and we can get out of here faster.” Levi made a shooing motion with his hands but, Eren had put his foot down. No knocking unless Levi was right beside him. So, Levi had to get right up on the porch and then the trick-or-treating began. Eren’s first bag filled up quickly, luckily, he’d brought two more. They went up and down Levi’s street, then to the next one over, and then the one past that all as the sun finally disappeared completely below the horizon. The street lamps flickered on as they walked down this street. It was quieter, most of the houses lights off, fewer kids running around and yelling. They approached the first house, Eren clasped onto Levi’s hand and began walking funny. It was a nice house, yellow with window boxes of flowers. Eren quickly knocked on the door and yelled trick-or-treat before crossing his legs and scrunching up his face.

“What’s wrong kid, gotta piss?” Levi asked. Eren nodded enthusiastically, his eyes peering out of the mask’s holes. 

“Well we’re like three blocks from home, hold it.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest as the door swung open and a tall blond man held out a bowl of candy.

“That’s quite the costume young man.” The blond said, his voice deep as he crouched down a bit to hand Eren some candy.

“I can’t hold it,” Eren said, spinning around to face the man, “Mr. can I use your bathroom?” Eren asked, practically shaking with the effort of holding it in. The man’s eyes went wide at first but then he laughed.

“Of course, come in, both of you.” He held the door open and Eren sprinted inside, seeming to locate the bathroom with some kind of squawk-based echolocation. Levi facepalmed and was forced to go in after him. 

“I see we match.” The blonde said, leading Levi into the living room. Levi hadn’t noticed until now but sure enough, they were both wearing the same cheap green cape, the only difference being that this guy had elected to wear the rest of the outfit too. This must be how two girls feel when they show up to a party in the same dress. Seemed like this guy could actually manage to pull off the whole look though while Levi had only half-assed his costume and was left looking a little… lacking.

“Not by choice, it’s all his fault that I had to dress up.” Levi said, starring lifelessly in the direction of the bathroom. He glanced around, the living room was nice too, couch looked comfy, big tv, kind of a bachelor pad for furnishings but decently clean.

“Ah well, at least it makes your son happy, that’s what counts right?” the man said, looking down at Levi with bright blue eyes. If Levi had been drinking something right then and there, he would have spat it all over this guys face. Since he wasn’t though he just glared up at him and replied, “He’s not my son.” The man raised his bushy eyebrows.

“My apologies, I just thought since you were together… and he looks so much like you.” Levi could tell the man was trying to keep a straight face at the last part but failed. 

“Haha, so what’s your excuse then, just dress up to hand out candy to little kids, kinda lame for an adult don’t ya think.” Levi reached out and snapped one of the fake leather straps crossing over the man’s chest. In the process, he got a pretty good feel for just how ripped this guy was under that uniform. It was a wonder they made Halloween costumes in his size.

“Ah, well, I was going to take my niece trick-or-treating tonight, but her mother informed me that she woke up with a fever this morning and wouldn’t be able to come. I already had the costume though so I thought I should wear it.” He rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes from Levi. Levi just nodded, damn kids, being weak. A few moments of silence passed, and Levi was beginning to wonder if Eren had tried to flush himself down the toilet again. He was about to go check when the man spoke again.

“I’m Erwin by the way, Erwin Smith.” Blondie said, reaching out a hand that was probably big enough to wrap clear around Levi’s thigh. Why was he thinking about that? He shoved the weird thought aside and responded.

“Levi.” He didn’t need to know Levi’s last name. They shook hands just as a small, half-naked Eren emerged from the bathroom, suit wrapped around his waist, hair staticked up at all angles.

“Levi, I need help.” He said. Eren wandered over and looked up at them, eyes locked on their hands. He smiled lopsidedly.

“You match!” Eren moved his gaze to Levi, who finally remembered to release Erwin’s hand. It’d been so warm and big and left his smaller hand feeling tingly. He tried to ignore it as he knelt down next to Eren.

“What did you do now brat?” Levi asked as he examined the tangle of costume. He’d somehow managed to put it on backwards, one leg was inside out, and half of the top was tucked in down the leg.

“I was in a hurry to get to the bathroom, so I took it off fast, now it’s broke.” Eren said, leaning his head over to rest on Levi’s shoulder. Levi sighed, he might, just maybe, have the smallest, tiniest, most absolutely minuscule soft spot for this brat. He patted the back of Eren’s head and he tugged the costume off the rest of the way. Thankfully Eren was wearing pants underneath. Levi righted the costume and guided each of Eren’s feet into the correct holes then helped him get the top part on, including moving tiny fingers into tiny gloves, and finally the mask until he looked almost the way he did when he showed up on Levi’s doorstep.

“There, not broken.” Levi said, standing up as Eren tested it out with a few punches and kicks, accidentally kicking Erwin in the shin.

“Whoa there kiddo, you sure are tough in that thing.” Erwin said, smiling and patting Eren on the head. Eren laughed and buzzed around the room, jumping on Erwin’s furniture with absolutely zero grace.

“Don’t encourage him, and Eren don’t jump on other people’s furniture, your feet are dirty. Now get back over here, say thank you, and let’s go home.” Levi said, arms crossed.

“Don’t worry about it.” Erwin said, moving towards the door. Eren ran over and stood on his toes to grab Erwin’s hand.

“You match Levi, you should trick-or-treat with us.” Eren pulled on Erwin’s hand just as he had done to Levi earlier.

“Eren, you can’t invite strangers to go trick-or-treating with you, haven’t your parents taught you anything.” Levi had the urge to pick Eren up by the scruff of the neck and carry him out of here like a pissed momma cat, but Erwin blocked him.

“I’d love to, but Levi’s right, you should always be careful of strangers. That said…” Erwin reached into the back pocket of his costume and pulled out a wallet looking thing, flipping it open to reveal a police badge. Of course, Mr. Upstanding Citizen was a police officer. Levi glared from the badge up to the Erwin then back down. Looks like he’d have to watch out for two kids tonight.

“But I’ll only come if Levi agrees to it.” Erwin and Eren turned their heads towards Levi in unison, eyes pleading like puppies that wanted to play. Eren was too cute on his own but when Levi looked at Erwin making the same face, he felt a little hitch in his breathing. Fuck.

“Fine.” He said, shooing them out the door. Erwin locked up and they began their trek anew. Eren ran ahead of them on the sidewalk, darting between the light of streetlamps while Levi and Erwin kept a slower pace, the small sidewalk forcing them to walk close. Levi could feel the heat emanating off of Erwin and only now noticed just how much taller that man was than him. 

“Cute kid,” Erwin said, watching Eren jump and try to kick a blue box, “sure he’s not yours?” Big blue eyes looked down at Levi, the light from the lamps making them dark and intense. Levi felt his ears burning from the look.

“Not a chance.” He said, pulling his eyes away from Erwins.

“Can I take that to mean you’re single?” Erwin asked as they turned up the path to another house. The sidewalk shrunk once more, and Erwin placed a large hand on Levi and moved him in front. Levi could feel the heat on his shoulder in the exact shape of Erwin’s hand and it did funny things to his stomach.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” He didn’t know why he was playing coy. Truth be told Levi hadn’t had a girlfriend in almost a year. They stepped up to the porch, the smell of raw pumpkins and burning candles crowding the air. Eren was waiting for them so he could knock on the door, a lady opened it almost immediately. 

“Oh, what a wonderful costume you have. Here you go.” She said, giving him a handful of mini-candy bars. Her eyes slid up to Levi and Erwin as she straightened back up, her hands going to her hips.

“And your fathers are wearing matching costumes. What a cute family.” She said, smiling at them all.

“Thank you.”

“We’re not a…” but the door was shut before Levi could finish. He shook Erwin’s hand off, realizing what image it gave people, and marched Eren back out to the street.

“Why would you say that?” Levi practically growled at Erwin.

“I didn’t see the harm in letting her think that, additionally, it would have been too much trouble to explain the actual circumstances. Besides, I also think we must look like quite the cute family right now.” He said, smiling at Levi. And there it was again, that little hitch in his breathing and the heat in his face. It didn’t help that the next few houses went exactly the same way. 

It was 10:30 now and Levi was fuming, ready to head home. He’d forced the two full bags of candy onto Erwin who appeared to shoulder them with ease and informed Eren that they were going to start making their way back. Eren was still running off ahead of them, darting through the streetlamps. Levi focused his attention on him so he wouldn’t have to think about the hulk of a man standing next to him. Which is why Levi noticed immediately when Eren stopped running and crept off into someone’s yard.

“What the hell is that kid doing?” Levi asked, starting to walk faster.

“Where’d he run off to?” Erwin followed close behind Levi. They heard the crying by the time they reached the yard Eren had run into. Just barely visible in the moonlight, Eren was crouched underneath a massive fir tree next to something bright pink and shaking. Levi started forward but was stopped when Erwin shoved the bags of candy into his arms and crawled under the tree, his face the most serious Levi had seen it.

“Hello Miss, I’m officer Erwin Smith with the local police department, could you tell me why you’re crying under this tree?” Erwin’s voice carried across the yard, his tone gentle. Levi couldn’t hear the girls reply.

“Can you tell me what your mother looks like?” Erwin asked. Again, she was too quiet to hear.

“Okay, why don’t you come out and we’ll start looking for your mother, is that alright?” he was being so delicate with her.

“Why not?” Erwin asked she must’ve said something between. Levi thought to offer her some of Eren’s candy, but Erwin seemed to already have it handled.

“Well if you don’t want to be a princess then you can be a soldier like me and my friend out there.” Erwin said, pointing out to me. Friends, huh. He could see Erwin taking the cape off and swinging it around the girl before guiding both her and Eren out from beneath the fir tree. Out in the street light, the girl had longish black hair and tears streaking down her face. She was practically enveloped in Erwin’s giant cape with only a few inches of her dress poking out the bottom. Erwin emerged from the tree, his previously gelled hair now askew in several places with some needles stuck in it. Levi smirked, catching Erwin’s attention.

“Mikasa, this is Levi, Levi, this is Mikasa, we’re going to help her find her mom. She’s wearing a giraffe costume.” He said, taking Mikasa’s small hand in his huge one and shepherding them all back out to the street. Eren stuck right to Mikasa’s side, holding her other hand and showing her all the candy he’d gotten so far. When they reached the sidewalk, they stopped and scanned the area, no luck.

“So, Mr. Police Officer, how do we find the girl’s mom?” Levi asked. There weren’t many people around to ask but that where Erwin wanted them to start. Mikasa hadn’t been able to tell him where she lived so he began by asking anyone on the street if they’d seen a woman wearing a giraffe costume and also by knocking on doors to ask the same thing.  
It was drawing on midnight and they were nearing Levi’s house again when they got their first real clue. A man dressed up as a knight said he’d seen a giraffe looking for her daughter just a few minutes ago down the street. They caught up to her and returned Mikasa, Erwin letting her keep the cape and Eren promising to find her at school the next day.

By then Eren was yawning and they were a few blocks from home. 

“Levi, carry me.” Eren asked, reaching his arms up towards Levi.

“We’re not far, you can make it brat.” Levi said. Eren flumped into Levi’s leg and pulled on the cape.

“Pleaaassssee?” he begged.

“Ugh, fine.” He handed all the candy bags to Erwin and picked Eren up, placing the kid on his hip.

“Damn kid, you put on some weight since I picked you up last.” Eren settled in against Levi, his head up on his shoulder, mouth popped open, eyes closed. Before they’d made it fives steps Eren was snoring and drooling onto Levi’s shoulder.

“Why in the hell are kids so gross?” Levi asked, almost forgetting Erwin was there, he was so focused on the warm snoring bundle in his arms.

“Oh, come on, he’s not that bad.” Erwin patted Eren lightly on the head.

“He reeks of B.O. and his drool is gross.” Levi said. They made it another block before Levi had to switch sides and move Eren to his other hip.

“If he’s too heavy I can carry him for a bit.” Erwin offered. Levi was gonna decline but then he thought, why not let the big strong man carry him, it was no skin off his back.

“Sure.” Erwin set the candy down for a second and carefully transferred Eren to his hip, taking the kids weight like it was nothing and leaving Levi to pick up the candy bags. The rest of the walk home was quiet, thankfully. 

Levi opened the door to his home and without really thinking about it, just let Erwin in. They probably should’ve parted ways sooner, but it was so convenient to let him carry Eren.

“Where do you want him?” Erwin asked, his voice hushed in the dark house. Levi shrugged internally; he was already inside so he might as well finish the job. Levi led him to his bedroom and had him lay Eren on the bed. He stripped the costume off Eren and closed the door, turning the wax warmer on as a night light. Finally, he was done. He leaned heavily on his door, eyes closed and worn out, only remembering when he opened them that he was in a small space with a big man. He didn’t feel intimidated though, not in the slightest.

“So, what are your plans for the rest of the night?” Erwin asked, leaning on the opposite wall.

“Probably stay up and watch scary movies.” Levi answered, too tired to care about keeping secrets or being snarky.

“I know this is pretty forward, but, mind if I join you. I had a lot of fun tonight and would like it to continue. I’ll understand though if you’d rather end it here.” He looked down at Levi, a small smile just barely gracing his lips. Thoughts rushed through Levi’s head but just one won out.

“Fine, but I’m taking a shower first.” He said. So, he showed Erwin the living room and then left to take a quick cold shower. When he came back Erwin was curled up on his loveseat with his jacket and boots discarded, watching some haunted doll movie with the volume too low to hear. Levi sat next to him in his pajamas on the loveseat that he was wishing was a couch and tried desperately to focus on the movie. It was hard though since Erwin took up so much space and Levi’s clothes were so thin that if any part of Erwin brushed him it was like his bare skin was being touched. He was torn between focusing on Erwin’s soft breathing in his ear and worrying about his blush being seen in the dark so much so that when he looked back up at the tv he got a jump scare and slammed his head into Erwin’s cheek. Erwin wrapped his arm around Levi’s waist and pulled the smaller man to him.

“Jumpy huh?” Erwin sighed, placing a feather-light kiss on Levi’s temple. Levi’s face felt like it was on fire as he sunk into the warmth that was Erwin Smith’s chest. He’d never been in this situation before, but it felt so nice to just go with it. He felt something waking up downstairs but ignored it in favor of resting his head on Erwin’s chest and listening to his heartbeat until he fell asleep.

Levi jolted awake to a scream. He panicked, sat straight up out of Erwin’s arms and looked around lost. Someone was shouting his name. Eren was shouting his name. He shook his head out and ran for his bedroom. Eren was hidden under the covers trembling, yelling for Levi to help him. Levi peeled the covers back, worry invading his sleepy mind. Eren jumped on him, nestling himself into Levi’s arms and crying into his chest.

“What happened?” Levi asked, patting Eren on the back.

“I dreamed that… sob… Armin’s surgery didn’t go so well… sob… and mom and dad didn’t bring him home.” He cried. Erwin showed up in the doorway, a capri-sun in hand that he must’ve found in the fridge. He handed it to Levi who got Eren to drink from it and calm down some.

“Levi, can you stay here tonight?” Eren asked, hiccupping now. Levi restrained himself from rolling his eyes and instead patted Eren’s back.

“Sure.” He looked over at Erwin and shrugged as if to say ‘what can ya do?’ and laid down. Eren snuggled into his side, his soft hair tickling Levi’s arm. Erwin turned the lights off and not a minute later Levi felt the other side of the bed dip as Erwin got in. His big hand found Levi’s and held on as they all fell asleep.

In the morning Levi woke up, arms and legs tangled with Erwins, Eren draped across them both, snoring softly. There was knocking on the door. That’d be Eren’s parents, he got them all up and got Eren to the door, the kid barely awake. On the other side was Eren’s mom and dad plus an equally sleepy-looking Armin with a cast on his arm. Eren hugged his brother, their parents said a few words to Levi, and they left. Levi went back to bed, dead tired still, only to find a now half-naked Erwin occupying most of the mattress.

“You sure know how to make yourself at home.” Levi approached the bed. Erwin didn’t answer except for to reach out and grab Levi by the front of his shirt, pulling him into his arms and spooning him.

“Mmm, I like the thought of home tied to you.” He whispered into Levi’s ear, snuggling in closer and dosing back off. How in the hell was Levi supposed to sleep again after that?


End file.
